The present invention relates to a series of novel benzylidenethiazolidine derivatives which have the ability to inhibit the formation of lipid peroxide in the mammalian body, to the use of these compounds for the treatment of arteriosclerosis and other diseases and disorders arising from an imbalance in the lipid peroxide level, to processes for the preparation of these compounds and to processes using these compounds for the preparation of other active compounds.
Certain thiazolidinone derivatives having the ability to lower blood lipid and blood glucose levels are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,912 and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 833,867 filed the 25th day of Feb. 1986. Other thiazolidinone derivatives having a similar type of activity are disclosed in European Pat. No. 8203; but such compounds are structurally less similar to those of the present invention. However, the closest prior art of which we are presently aware is U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,255, which discloses a series of compounds which differ from those of the present invention in that they are benzylthiazolidine derivatives, rather than the benzylidenethiazolidine derivatives of the present invention.
We have now discovered a series of novel benzylidenethiazolidine derivatives which not only have the ability to inhibit the activity of lipid peroxide in the mammalian metabolism, but which also are of considerable value in preparing cheaply, effectively and in relatively high yields the compounds of the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,255, which are at present thought to be of greater value for their therapeutic activity.